Hobbies are bad for you

In the wake of Wednesday’s deck-building binge, I thought it might be a terribly good idea to get around to sorting all of my remaining Magic cards.

Now, I’m awful at this. I have a friend who sorts straight from each and every booster, which seems extraordinarily sensible, but me? I enjoy booster-ripping too much, and end up with a pile of 90 cards which I’ll “get around to”. Then another pile. Then a few more piles, until the house is littered with piles of cards, usually numbering 90, which the cats enjoy knocking over.

Of course, spending an entire morning hunched over thousands of cards while I sort them into some semblance of order is totally my idea of fun… Well, maybe not. But It gave me cause to consider how just about everything we gamers consider a hobby is detrimental to our backs. We spend a lot of time leaning forward at keyboards, clutching controllers, squinting at cards, reaching over boardgames, or the ultimate body-punishment: gripping paintbrushes while peering at miniatures and curling over to paint them. And we do all these things for hours on end. At least with roleplaying you either get to lounge comfortably on a sofa or lean against the kitchen table.

Considering I didn’t even start playing Magic until Innistrad, I’ve picked up a ridiculous amount of pre-Innistrad cards; most are from Scars of Mirrodin, but there are some Zendikar and older. It’s possible that Magic cards build up a certain density of gravity beyond which other Magic cards cannot escape, until they begin getting sucked through time and space to join the collective.

I’ve got absolutely no use for either of these, for instance. But I imagine someone out there might. I’ll have to consider eBaying the older stuff, I think.

I should have spent my morning assembling some Dropzone Commander minis instead, but someone decided to block access to the cutting mat.

See? The universe conspired against me. When even the cat thinks I should be sorting the cards, there’s no choice.

Maybe I should take up some sort of sport thing. I understand that sort of hobby is actually good for you?